Twins Cup - how much are they spending?

I was thinking about the long dead super singles and how expensive it got (for what it was).

How much does it take to make one of these parallel twins a winner?

 

For the bike itself or the team?

 

Per race or for a season? Private racer or as a team owner?

How much you got?

 

A lot

 

How do you make a small fortune in racing?

 

+1 windscreen today

 

You can be top 10 with a bike in the 10k-20k range but a race weekend probably costs between 3-5k minimum regardless of where you finish. More if you’re paying for a rig, crew, travel expenses and all. A top bike built new is probably in the 30-40k if you’re just writing a check. Maybe a bit more in a few cases. And then spare bike, engines, and parts can be whatever it needs to be.

Rodio was selling his spare / practice RS660 with a stock engine probably putting out 90hp for $15k. Have the motor built to 100hp-ish for maybe $12k-ish and you’ve got a podium bike for around $27k. But you still need all the other expenses of running a series.

So in summary, basically what Dave K said… How much you got?

Edit: As a point of reference, last year I probably spent $50k or so to buy a new bike (HSBK built RS660), Dymag wheels, spares, and run 4 rounds as a grid filler. It might have been a bit more with travel expenses and miscellaneous costs, but I really prefer to not think about it and now I’m mad at you for making me think about it! Lol

But to race at Laguna Seca with our National Pro series was a true bucket list for me last year so it’s hard to put a price on that!

 

Sorry I was just curious.

 

Also for a season you have to factor in the most teams up front are using multiple engines per year

 

I guess that R7 needs extensive frame reworking too. The stocker doesn't look up to the task. Multiple frames?

 

Engine cracked or uncracked?

 

start with a large fortune

 

Exactly

 

you guys are slacking, former WERA racer Gene Burchum runs the Cycle Tech team with Gary Jefferies, and they are putting one stout r7 under Hayden Schultz. Invite him in here

 

It's not so much a re-work as it is aftermarket parts. Triples, linkages, etc. The R7 frame is so springy that some teams have built a jig to make sure it bolts up straight when putting the engine in.

The Twins builds have gotten out of control, they are basically mini superbikes. My FZ/R7 makes 97 HP and that's with a full build and lots of my own spending / development time. Last year, my bike was one of the fastest out there. Now, every bike is fast, all the way down to 20th. There's 4-5 different self developed ram air systems for the R7 now. Parrish and Jackson have built their own, Andy Palmer has one, and some other very smart people are working this angle too. This is pushing expenses even further because to properly tune and get power from a ram air system you need sophisticated tuning. One of the ram air bikes is running a full ECU and wiring harness ($10K alone) to make that happen.

We have a guy down here who built 2 Aprilias for club racing, One, he just decked the head and degreed the cams, and it made 98HP on the same dyno that my bike makes 97. For basically zero engine work. The second bike, he put in re ground cams, ported the head, a full ECU package and it made 105. That's with porting done by a local guy with no flow bench. Granted, they are still working out electrical ECU problems but that is insane for a twin, and it has me thinking Italian again! The Aprilia Chassis is really good, which is why you are seeing SuperSport level lap times from the built ones.

Not counting the bike, I spend about $3500-4K per weekend. $1000 of that is fuel for the drive and camping fees for the RV. I only have one crew member which is the absolute minimum and we're usually looking for help on the grid. For qualifying it's hard for one guy, he has to send me off from the pits then haul down to the wall with a bunch of equipment in case there's a red flag or we need to come in and make a change (can't go behind the wall in qualifying or race). One drum of VP for the weekend, probably 5 or 6 tires for a Double Header event.

I'm not even counting equipment repairs, RV repairs, oil changes, etc. Because I don't want to think about it.

 

Dan Garver finished 9th on a stock engine at Road Atlanta

 

Dan was absolutely flying last weekend. Looked so good.

 

This post really does bring up the question that's been talking about before (and I'm not even a Suzuki fan). But wouldn't the 750 with the detuned electronics to run in SuperSport almost be a cheaper chassis package than some of these twins? Do you even need to go into the motor at all on the 750 if it's going to be neutered by the electronics? From the weekend warrior stand point, it sure seems like it would be the cheaper/more reliable option for most financial mortals. I'd imagine the longevity on a detuned 750 would have to be pretty got damn good too.

 

Seriously.. And per supersport rules you cant have $4000 wheels and crazy triples/forks etc.

I wonder the cost of running a STK1000 bike for a weekend.... Those guys can't do shit.. Not even axle sliders. lol The electronics are kinda getting out of hand though... Aren't the CBR and S/M1000RR OEM KIT ECU/Harness deals like $7500? All said and done its like $3000 for a ZX10R

 

Ok, so we are talking about how much it costs. How much do you win? I have no clue what the purses look like in MA, what's the potential payout?